Despite warnings of dire financial times ahead, the Spencer County Fiscal Court Wednesday voted against restoring the county’s insurance premium tax to its original four percent. In a 3-3 vote, one shy of the four required, the court struck down Judge-Executive John Riley’s proposal that he said could have generated an additional $170,000 for the general fund.

In an effort to help citizens make an informed decision during the upcoming elections, The Spencer Magnet is conducting surveys of candidates who will be facing opposition in the upcoming May Primary.
Each week, we will feature candidates for various races. This week, we begin with the race for County Judge-Executive. Bobby Smith, a Democrat, is running unopposed. The survey begins on page A13.

A hike in the county’s insurance premium tax will be on the agenda at a special meeting of the Spencer County Fiscal Court this morning.
The item was originally on the agenda for this past Monday’s regular meeting of the court, but magistrates voted to halt discussion of the matter because Magistrate Collis Rogers was absent from the meeting.
Judge-Executive John Riley introduced the tax hike proposal as a potential means of generating additional revenue for the county.

Changes could be coming to several departments of county government, but they’ll have to wait until later in the month.
Spencer County Judge-Executive John Riley Monday morning was prepared to unveil a a restructuring of some parts of county operations, but magistrates moved to hold off on the proposal until everyone was present. Magistrate Collis Rogers was absent from Monday’s meeting due to health reasons.
While little was said in the meeting about Riley’s plan, it was outlined in the packet that accompanied the agenda.